The Professionalization of Teachers--The State of the Theoretical Art in Germany.

Rebel, Karlheinz

This paper examines the question of whether the construct of professionalization is a helpful instrument to assist teachers in achieving an acknowledged place and status in German society. The concept of professionalization as it is used in an everyday pedagogical context and in the context of various academic disciplines is analyzed, and the application of these concepts to initial teacher preparation in Germany and other countries is examined. A brief outline is given of the historical debate over the professional standing of teachers in Germany. Three theoretical positions found in the literature which reflect this debate are identified: (1) a deductive abstract position which attempts to deduce pedagogic professionality from a reflection on the principles of educational essence; (2) an inductive-additive position characterized by the attempts to determine educational professionalism by discussing the structure of the educational tasks, based on empirical studies; and (3) a hermeneutic-reconstructive position characterized by attempts to explore the structure of pedagogical tasks in order to develop a content-oriented definition of pedagogical professionalism. Two additional theoretical approaches to professionalization and professionalism are discussed. The first of these is related to the vocational sociology approaches and is popular with practicing teachers; the second, a newer approach, concentrates on professionalization features which are claimed to be more adequate to educative functions. (IAH)